Stubborn
by CatCatKittyCat
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple mission for Juvia and Gajeel to spend some time together, as the pair of friends rarely could anymore, but when the client insisted on an Ice mage being added to the party, Juvia discovers that she cannot share her time equally between the two men. Gruvia one shot, rated T for violence and Gajeel's potty mouth.


**Series:** Fairy Tail

**Pairing: **Gray Fullbuster/Juvia Lockser

**Rating:** T for Teen (for some violence and Gajeel dropping the F Bomb)

**Word Count:** 6396

**AN:** This was a combination of two prompts from tumblr: Broken leg and Gray fussing over Juvia's injury. Enjoy!

* * *

The mission should have been a light one. At first, it was just going to be Juvia and Gajeel; a friendly outing for the pair, who had not spent elongated time with each other since Gajeel and Levy had began _officially_ dating. However, when Mirajane had contacted the client, the man on the other end had insisted on an ice mage joining the party.

So now, Gray found himself on a passenger train, with a blushing water mage to his right, and a bored iron dragon slayer seated across from him. He ignored Juvia's fidgeting, since he assumed it was the best she could do to contain her excitement about him tagging along. It was fine; he had nothing better to do anyway.

"Is Gajeel sure that it is alright that Gray came along?" Juvia asked again, as she had before they had boarded in the morning also.

Gajeel scoffed, "Like I said, I don't care if the stripper comes along." His face turned blue as her question had taken his concentration from holding back his motion sickness. "You're the one who wanted to go on the mission in the first place…" With that said, he opened the window next to him and hung his head out of it. His hair got caught in the wind and blew around like a flag on the side of the train.

"Yes. This is true. But Juvia wanted to spend time with Gajeel. If Gray is here…" Her eyes flicked up to him and her cheeks burned brighter. "It is hard to spend time with anyone else."

"Why don't you just sit next to him, then?" Gray asked, rolling his eyes at the doting young lady.

Juvia's eyes remained on him, but her cheeks lost their blush and her mouth turned to a pout. She glanced across the seats to her friend, but leapt deeper into her seat as a retched sound of vomit erupted from him and a splattering echoes on the outside of the train.

Gray's expression flinched, and he turned his head away from the scene. "Never mind. You can sit there as long as you like."

Juvia only replied with a quaint smile, before asking Gajeel if he was all right.

* * *

It only took Gajeel a few moments to recover once they arrived at their destination. The trio made their way up to a massive mansion at the top of a hill covered in shrubbery sculptures. There were snowmen, and a Santa Claus, reindeer, and even a huge snowflake cut out of enormous bushes leading up to the gate. Juvia spied a lacrima orb planted at the side of the entrance, and ran her hand across it, before the face of an elderly man appeared on it.

"Hello! We are the bodyguard party from Fairy Tail. May we come in?" She said, introducing them.

"No, that will not be necessary." The man replied, the gray mustache on his lip twitched around with his speech. "The young master himself will come out in a few moments. I will let him know of your arrival."

Juvia blinked at the lacrima orb as the man turned around, but then heard him speaking to someone else in the mansion with him.

"Oh, young master. There you are. They have arrived. Is everything ready to go?"

The next thing Juvia heard was something she could only describe as "squawking." It was an annoying voice, whining and yelling at whom she assumed was the butler. Gajeel cringed in his position behind her, as his sensitive ears hated the voice even more.

The older man turned back to the communication orb with sweat on his forehead. "My apologies, the young master will be out shortly, but he wants to make sure that you have an ice mage with you." The butler explained.

Juvia took a step back as Gray leaned in and raised his hand. "Present and accounted for." He said flatly. Somehow, he had a feeling this mission was going to be an _annoying_ one.

"Fantastic." The man replied. "Well then, please step back from the gates. The young master is exiting now," With that, the orb went blank again.

The three mages stepped back as they had been told, and the gates began to slowly open outward. From the front of the mansion, they could see a little figure exit, and slowly come closer, with the sound of a squeaky tire and a rusty engine pushing it along.

Finally, the "young master" came into view. He was a short, pudgy child, no older than thirteen, with short blonde hair circling his round face in a bowl cut. His clothing consisted of a blue pair of slacks that barely fit around his gut, a frilly white dress shirt, and a green blazer. The little rich boy was standing on a scooter, which was being powered by a magic engine that had been haphazardly attached to it. It's front wheel veered to the side and constantly scraped against the ground, causing a continuous squeak.

Gray grimaced at the sight of their client, and Gajeel just scoffed something incomprehensible—but he was obviously not impressed. Juvia, being much more inviting of children, gave the boy a smile.

"Hello. Juvia, Gray, and Gajeel are here to escort you to your destination." She only leaned a bit as she spoke to the boy, not wanting to make him feel looked down upon (though his height was only half of hers, so it was unavoidable.)

"Are you the ice mage?" He asked, skipping his introduction.

"Ah, uh." Juvia was caught off guard by the child, but motioned to Gray, "No, Juvia is a water mage. The one the young master is looking for would be would be Gray."

"Where are your clothes? Are you really going to escort me like that?" The young master asked.

Gray looked down upon himself to find the shirt and jacket he was wearing on the train were completely gone now, and he was only wearing a pair of black pants now. He sighed, and decided he didn't need to explain it to the child. "Don't worry about me." He replied, and then pointed at the child. "Why don't you introduce yourself, brat?"

"Gray!" Juvia scolded him, but Gray's straight face did not change.

"No, it is fine. I get that all the time." The boy almost sounded like he was bragging. "I am Sir Henry Arthur Gilligan Ramses Hearington the Third. You may call me Henry, if that is too much for you."

"Alright, _Henry._" Gray replied, "You can't take _that_ along." He moved his pointer finger to the scooter the boy rode up on.

"What?! No! I will not walk. I insist of bringing my scooter." He complained.

"The stripper is right." Gajeel concurred, "It's got a flakey wheel and it runs of magic that we can't produce. It'll break down along the way and one of us will have to carry it and you'll have to walk anyway."

"Then you can carry it! I hired you! You'll do as I say!" The boy shouted. Gray's eyebrow twitched and Juvia covered her mouth in surprise.

"Fine. How about…" Gajeel flashed his sharp teeth at the boy, "I just eat the damned thing now?! It's mostly comprised of metal anyway, right?"

The boy's face went pale as he realized the tanned man was serious. Gray held in a chuckle as Henry bowed his head. "I will leave it." He gave in.

"Alright. Now that _that's_ out of the way…" Gray said with a roll of his eyes.

Juvia stepped in front of him, as she felt the man had made the boy feel small for long enough. "Henry destination is three towns over. If we do not start now, we might not make it before sundown." She informed him, "Juvia supposes Henry does not want to sleep in the woods, no?"

Henry's jaw dropped, and he shook his head adamantly. "We can go now." He said, and then began pointing around him. "You: piercing man. You will be in front because you look the strongest." He told Gajeel. The iron dragon didn't seem to have a problem with the boy not using his name, and instead smirked at Gray with a "gihi" from the boys compliment.

"You, woman. You will be behind me. Anyone who sneaks up behind me will be distracted by your beauty." The child continued his orders. Juvia held a hand to her cheek and blushed, ignoring the fact she was being used as a human decoy.

"And, you. Ice mage."

"It's Gray. Show some respect to your elders." He replied with a scoff. "I'll walk beside you right?"

"Yes. And you will make it snow above me the whole walk." Henry said with a confident smile.

"What?" Gray's stance fell as he heard the boy's request.

"As you saw on the way here, I really like winter. And so I needed an ice mage so this long walk would be a fun one in the snow."

"Well, you're out of luck." The half-naked man sneered. "I'm an ice _make_ mage. I make items, _weapons_, out of ice. I can't just suddenly make it snow." He told the boy, who's expression became blue and disappointed. "Even if I could manage to drop the temperature around us, it would have to be raining already."

Gray watched as the boys face lit up and he turned to Juvia, who had already mentioned she was a water mage. She smiled awkwardly, not specifically liking where this was headed.

Gray glared at Henry, and sent shivers down the boy's spine. "And we are _not_ exploiting Juvia just for your petty request." Juvia's cheeks turned rosy as he stood up for her without her saying anything.

Henry looked to the ground grumbling to himself under his breath, before inhaling deeply and then shouting. "Okay! Fine! Let's just go before it gets dark!"

Gray smirked, and then looked to Gajeel. "Lead the way, oh fearless leader." And with that, the foursome set out together.

* * *

Juvia found herself leaning forward through most of the trek. Because of Gray's cold attitude and Gajeel completely lack of interest in their client, she found that she was the only one who the boy could converse with. While he had seemed bratty at first, Henry told her about how he used to live in the village they were headed to, but when his father inherited a fortune, they moved into their new mansion and he was separated from his friends, whom they were taking him to meet now.

He had no one his age to play with at the mansion, and instead was spoilt with toys and money. Though he couldn't seem to understand it, he seemed too aware that the money was changing him. He talked about how he used to be grateful just to have friends, and now he had everything but friends, and wasn't thankful for any of it.

He told her about all of his friends: Mike liked robots, Suzy liked playing in the dirt, Nathanael's favorite game was dress up and Michelle liked to play barber shop. He laughed as he told her about a time that everyone had their hair cut by Michelle, and all their parents got angry with them.

Juvia smiled at the boy as he relayed story after story to her. She rarely got in any words, but she was content listening to him. At first glance, the men seemed to be ignoring them completely, but both of them had relaxed since their first conversation with the boy, and Juvia could tell their hostility towards him had all but withered away.

Juvia was chuckling at the child, when she heard Gray's footsteps stop. She looked up and came to a stop herself as she was him holding an arm out in front of her.

"Gray?" She questioned. He quickly shushed her, and looked to the trees surrounding the dirt path they traversed down. "Something's not right…" He grumbled.

Gajeel had stopped shortly after Gray, and now held his nose up to the sky, sniffing the surrounding area for anything out of place. He glanced to Juvia with a grim expression. "The stripper's right. We're completely surrounded."

Henry backed up until he bumped into Juvia's knees. He turned around and looked up at her with worried eyes. "H-How did you let this happen? I thought you mages were supposed to be like, smart or something!" He cried.

Gajeel scoffed, "Your non stop chatter had our ears full. Don't complain. We'll take care of it."

The blonde boy looked back up to Juvia for confirmation. She kneeled down and ran her hand over top the boy's head. "Gajeel is just frustrated. It is not Henry's fault." She told him, "And like Gajeel said, we will take care of it."

Juvia watched Gray scrape his foot back across the ground and come into a fighting position before he shouted, "Alright! We know you're there! Come out!"

Rustling sounds emitted from the trees and bushes all around them, before a chorus of snickers and laughter began to sing out as a group of ten men, all dressed in dirty brown, ragged clothes, stepped out from all around the ground, three of them had wolves walking beside them.

"What do you bastards want?" Gajeel hissed, raising a fist to show he was more than ready to beat some heads in.

One of the men laughed out loud. He had his face wrapped in a black cloth—only his eyes peeked out from it—making him the only one of the ground that kept his identity hidden. "You've got the Hearington brat with you, right? We bandits have been waiting months for a chance for this ransom." The man spoke with a snake-like voice, "So why don't you just hand him over and no one gets hurt."

"Fuck that!" Gajeel snarled back at the bandit leader. "Why don't you just go off yourself!"

The man closed his eyes gently and sighed. "I guess we have to do this the hard way then."

"Hard for you maybe." Gray stated with a cold expression.

The leader raised his hand and snapped his fingers, and the other men all leapt into action. They pulled old rusty swords and daggers from their sides and pockets and rushed at the mages. Gray flipped the first one who neared him, took a hold of his wrist, and then stomped down hard onto the attacker's arm. The man shrieked as his bone snapped and he collapsed to the ground.

Gajeel's first opponent charged towards him with a dagger pointed at the dragon slayer, but Gajeel gave him little heed. He kicked up as soon as the man neared and knocked the man's weapon from him hand, sending it flying into the sky. Gajeel caught it in his teeth and bit down, snapping it in half, before slugging the man in the face and leaving a nice imprint.

Juvia had thrown a water shield up over herself and Henry as soon as the onslaught had began and she now was kneeling over the shaking boy, and shooting blasts of water out, knocking men out one at a time.

A shadow loomed over the water mage, and she looked up to see the leader standing right next to her. She glared at him, and readied another attack, when she watched him pull something out of his pocket and her eyes widened.

In his hand, the man held an electric taser. He flicked its magic switch on and off, watching the sparks fly back and forth between the two small conductors. "I suppose since this is water…" He neared her bubble with the taser.

"Please stop!" Juvia cried out. Her two male teammates dropped the men they had been beating to a pulp and turned their full attention to the scene that was going down at the moment.

"That will hurt Henry too! Please don't do it!" She shouted at him.

The man smirked, and he flicked the switch off again. "Then just hand over the boy and both of you will be unharmed." He told her.

Juvia frowned, and held Henry close to her. She needed to think quickly. She could not simply hand Henry over, but she could not risk him being harmed—or worst.

Before she was able to calculate a plan, the boy in her arms pushed off of her.

"Henry!" Was all she was able to exclaim, before he ran out of the water shield on his own, emerging wet and cold.

"Don't hurt her! She's the first adult who's treated me like a human since I moved." He sniffled, "You can have me! Just leave her alone!"

The dirty clothed man smirked at the youth and then wrapped an arm around the boy, lifting him from the ground and facing him towards his opponents. "Don't any of you move!" He ordered, and held the taser up towards the boy, "The kid is absolutely soaked. What do you think will happen if he gets a zap now?"

Juvia gasped, and dropped her shield, as all nine of the other men, and the three canines, had been incapacitated. Her mind started racing, trying to put together a plan, and she wasn't the only one deliberating. Gray held his hands behind his back as he readied some ice make magic. He and Gajeel had avoided using any magic when taking out the weakling grunts, so their boss wouldn't know what to expect.

Gray began to kneel towards the ground, and the leader became agitated. "You! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Nothing, nothing." Gray said with an aloof tone, "You've got us beat, I give."

"Gray?" Juvia whispered, but didn't look behind herself to watch his movements. _It must be a distraction!_ She thought.

Gray bowed his head, and then smirked, as he placed his hands on the ground in front of him, and a sheet of ice quickly spread across the dirt towards the bandit. Juvia did not see it though, and instead, leapt up to attack while the man shouted at Gray. "Water Sli—" When her feet hit the ground they landed on Gray's ice and she found herself slipping as she let out a blade of water towards the opponent. She let out a squeal as she fell back to the ground, twisting her feet about on the way down.

Her water slicer's aim was off, but still hit the bandit right in the head, bringing the man to the ground. He dropped his taser, which Gajeel quickly shot a spear of iron into, breaking it into tiny pieces. Henry was dropped in the ground, where he slid along the ice until he bumped into Juvia, who let out a soft "ouch!"

Gray ran past Juvia to make sure she had taken the man out completely, and surely enough, he was out cold. The water slicer had cut a slash on his forehead, but he appeared to still be alive. His cloth mask had been torn to bits, revealing the face of a scrawny, middle-aged man.

Gray pushed the man over with his foot, and Gajeel made a make shift pair of handcuffs, partially from his own iron, partially from the remains of the weapons that had been broken and dropped. They locked the man up in the cuffs, and Gajeel lifted him by the collar. "We'll have to drag the dirt bag into town with us and give him to the authorities." The dragon slayer explained.

Gray nodded, and then heard Henry speaking up.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yes. Juvia is fine. She just twisted her ankle a little." She said, putting up her hands and waving them about to try to wash away the boy's worry.

Gray grimaced and slid over to the water mage. Juvia looked up at him and blushed, partially because he always made her blush, but also because she had just made a fool of herself on his own ice.

"Let me see it." Gray said, and kneeled in front of her.

"Huh? Oh no! It's really nothing. Juvia is all right." She flexed her right arm muscle and patted it with her left hand to try to show she was feeling strong.

"Let me see." Gray repeated.

Juvia pouted and sighed, before slipping her injured leg out from it's hiding place under her dress and let Gray's cold fingers examine it. Her angle had a bulge to it at one side, and the surrounding area was quickly turning from red to blue. Gray sighed. "It might be broken."

"Oh no! It's definitely not that bad. Juvia can walk the rest of the way." She said, waving her hands about again. Henry stayed at her side and continued to give her a worried look.

"No. This is my fault. I should have made sure you knew what was happening." Gray protested.

"Oh that's silly. If Juvia knew, the enemy—"

"I'll carry you the rest of the way." Gray cut her off.

Juvia became speechless, as she watched the shirtless man in front of her turn around and offer his back to her. She didn't know how to argue. She didn't _want_ to. She turned her gaze to Gajeel, but the iron dragon slayer was cracking up from just the look on her face. He did manage to give her a thumbs up though. She then turned her attention to the blonde boy at her side, who just shrugged. He could not comprehend what was happening in her mind at the moment anyway.

Juvia blushed, and bit her lip, but finally leaned forward and put her weight onto Gray's shoulders. Once she was close, he slipped his arms under her knees, and then stood up with the woman on her back. Henry looked up at the two of them with a puzzled expression.

"Are you two… married?" He asked.

"What?!" Gray shouted. Juvia could not respond as her whole body felt like it caught on fire as those words left the boy's mouth.

"My father told me that adults are only… um… 'intimate' when they're married. You guys seem pretty 'intimate' to me." He explained his inquiry.

Gajeel was absolutely losing himself in laughter as he watched Gray's face redden.

"We're _not __**intimate**_!" Gray shouted, and the boy flinched back. Juvia punched his shoulder.

"Gray, do not shout at Henry. He is a sweet boy." She scolded her ride, and then turned a soft visage to the child. "Henry, Gray and Juvia are very close, so we watch out for each other." She wrapped her arms around Gray's neck and pressed the side of her head against the back of his. "You don't have to be married to love each other."

Gray stayed silent, but his cheeks remained stained with crimson as the woman on his back embraced him. Henry stared upon the pair of mages, as Juvia smiled softly with her eyes closed. Gray glanced silently to the boy and the motioned with his head for him to start walking. Gajeel began to march off in laughter, dragging their felon behind him. Henry looked back and forth, and finally understood, before running in front of Gray and following up behind Gajeel. Gray made the tail of their human train, as they began to trek the last couple miles of their journey.

* * *

The rest of the journey had been a quieter one. Juvia had not wanted to talk in Gray's ear, but Henry seemed to enjoy the silence, surprisingly enough. He watched butterflies and bird fly overhead, listened to the sound of squirrels and chipmunks all around him, and kicked rocks from under his feet. The sun was barely setting when their destination finally came into view.

It was a quaint little village. The houses all looked like they were built by the families who lived in them, or maybe by their parents. The children were energetic, covered in dirt from a day's adventure, but happy none-the-less. The adults were friendly, greeting the group as they entered, though the sight of Gajeel dragging a body behind him had elicited a couple screams. Gajeel found someone calm enough to give him directions to the nearest police station. He gave Gray and Juvia a wave before dashing off to find it, with the convict over his shoulder.

Henry was already searching around town, looking for anyone he could recognize. He looked up at Juvia with a worried expression. "It's been a while since I came back. What if they forgot about me?" He whimpered.

"That is impossible. No one can forget Henry." She said, trying to cheer him up.

"Did you say Henry?" A young voice spoke up. A dark skinned girl with black braids popped out from around the side of a house.

"Michelle!" Henry called out, and ran in her direction. Three more kids popped up over the course of a few minutes, all excited to see the blonde boy, making comments like 'wow, being rich made you fat' and laughing at a dumb comeback he had ready for such a sentence.

Juvia smiled, and rested her head on Gray's shoulder. She then realized that she was still on his back. Her face grew pink again, and she began to protest. "Oh! Juvia is fine now, Gray. Please put her down."

"No way." Gray said, "We're going to get you back to Fairy Tail and have Wendy heal you up right away."

"What? You're leaving already?" Henry's voice whined as he ran back to the two mages. His friends followed him like a herd of animals. "I was hoping you would stay and play with us…"

"We've got to get Juvia looked at." Gray told the kid flatly.

"And your friends have missed you. We wouldn't want to keep you away from them." Juvia said with a kind smile.

"Will you walk me home next month?" The boy asked with a hopefully voice.

"Yes. Juvia promises."

Gray sighed as he had a feeling he would be dragged along that time too. He felt Juvia pat his shoulder, before she whispered, "Bend down, Gray."

He did as he was asked, and watched Juvia stretch an arm out to Henry. "It is a pinkie promise."

The boy's face lit up, and he locked his finger with hers and nodded. After that, he waved goodbye, and ran off with his friends laughing.

Gray stood back up, and glanced at Juvia, who was resting her chin on his shoulder again. "I didn't know you liked kids so much." He spoke up.

"Oh, Juvia loves children." Her hands traced up Gray's chest, and his blood boiled. Suddenly, this piggyback ride seemed like a bad idea. "Juvia wants many of her own. Like twelve or thirteen."

"That doesn't even sound healthy." Gajeel's voice broke into the conversation. Juvia flinched with surprise and quickly brought her hands to Gray's shoulders.

"If you love birds are done seeing the brat off, I have a date tomorrow, so I'd like to get going." The iron dragon drawled out, and began to walk past them.

"Yeah. We should get Juvia back to the guild right away." Gray concurred, and began to follow Gajeel. "Where's the closest train?"

Juvia thought for a moment, with a finger on her chin, "There was one at the last town. If we hurry, we can probably make the last train."

"Alright, let's go!" Gajeel said, and then dashed off in a cloud of dust.

Juvia tightened her grasp to Gray, and then whispered in his ear, "Gray can run too. Juvia will hold on tight." Her breath brushed his ear and she pressed herself close to him as she hugged on tight, and Gray felt his body temperature rise. He quickly chocked it up to adrenaline.

"Alright. If you say so." He said with a smirk, and then set off behind his other teammate.

* * *

The trio had barely made the last trip, and now they all found themselves seated on the train, the last minutes before departure, with the boys panting to catch their breath.

Gray had sat Juvia next to Gajeel for the ride back, and collapsed on his side, taking up the whole seat on his own. An announcement from the conductor blasted through the locomotive, announcing that they would be leaving the station in three minutes. There was a lot of chitchat and noise from the other passengers, but Juvia watched Gray doze off on the seat across from her. She smiled softly, enjoying the view of the exhausted man. He suddenly seemed so vulnerable. Her cheeks felt warm as that thought ran through her mind.

"You're drooling." Gajeel broke her train of thought, and Juvia leapt into reality, wiping her chin to discover he was right. Her face burned red as she hid it with her hands from her best friend.

"Gihihi." He chuckled at her, "You must have had fun, having the stripper carry you around all day."

"It was not 'all day.'" Juvia mumbled, and removed her hands from her red cheeks, "And Juvia does not mean to deceive Gray. He insists on carrying her. Juvia really is okay."

Gajeel glanced at the ankle in question. It was still swollen and blue, he grimaced. "I don't know, Juvia. It looks pretty mangled to me."

"Well, Juvia is fine." She puffed up her cheeks, and then slowly released the air from them. In a soft, tiny voice, she added, "But if Gray wants to carry Juvia into Fairy Tail…"

Gajeel smirked at his friend, and then smacked her in the back, causing the woman to yelp in surprise. "Yeah, I bet you'd love to have everyone in the guild see that! Gihihi!"

Juvia covered her face again. "N-No! It will be dark when we return. Most people will be home."

Gajeel continued to laugh at his bashful friend. "Sure, whatever helps you sleep at ni—" Just before he finished his sentence, the train came to life and lurched forward. Gajeel's face turned blue and he sat back in his seat. Juvia sneered at him as he fell into his motion sickness.

* * *

The train pulled into Magnolia just after 10 pm. It was pitch black outside, except for the moon and stars. Gajeel began to pull himself back together, and Juvia stood up and stepped to Gray's side, giving him a soft shake. "Gray. We are home." She said softly.

Gray slowly opened his eyes, and then jumped awake as he saw Juvia standing in front of him. "Juvia! You shouldn't be standing!" He complained at her.

"Juvia has her weight on her other foot. Besides, Juvia told Gray, Juvia is fine. It's late, and Wendy is going to be asleep. We should not bother her." She told him. Gajeel frowned at the girl, as she had backed down from her wishes at the start of the train ride.

"No way. We'll get it looked at tonight." Gray protested, caught Juvia behind the knees with his arm as he came to his feet. He lifted the girl up off the floor with him and held her in a princess hold.

"Gr-Gray! Not like this! It is embarrassing!" Juvia whined. Of course, she loved the attention. She loved the stance. She loved everything about this moment, but it would be unladylike to admit that.

Gray marched off the train, ignoring Juvia's cries. Gajeel waved goodbye to his friend, as she stared over Gray's shoulder at him, and then the dragon slayer slinked off towards his home.

Gray made a B-line for Fairy Hills. He would knock at Wendy's door and get her to look at Juvia. The woman was too stubborn. She needed to admit she was hurt. He just wanted her to know it was okay to be hurt. She didn't have to try to impress him with a tough act. He just wanted her to be safe.

Gray walked straight into Fairy Hills like he belonged there. Juvia waved at the matron on the way in, to let them know that Gray was with her.

"Hey! No freaker frankin' in the apartments!" The matron shouted behind them. Juvia's entire face turned red at the very idea that the matron had had such a thought.

Gray stomped up the stairs, and they neared Juvia's apartment.

"Gray, Juvia really is okay. Gray doesn't have to wake up Wendy. Just leave Juvia at her apartment." She tried to convince the man again.

"No way." He didn't even slow down, "You're so stubborn. Why won't you admit you're hurt?"

Juvia inhaled and held her breath. She was _not_ be _stubborn_. It was Gray that was. "Because Juvia is not—"

"Gray? Juvia?" A sheepish voice came from behind the couple. Gray stopped in his tracks, and turned around to find Wendy walking down the hallway behind them, dressed in yellow plaid pajamas, and rubbing her tired eyes with her fist.

"I didn't know you guys got back. How was the mission?" The young lady asked.

"Wendy. Juvia's hurt. Will you heal her?" Gray asked, getting straight to the point.

The younger girl gasped and was suddenly alert. "Yes! Of course!" She almost shouted, and turned to see that they were still close to Juvia's apartment. "Can we use your apartment, Juvia?"

Juvia pouted. Now that Wendy was already involved there was no point in complaining any longer. She nodded, and reached into her hat, pulling her apartment key from it's lining. She offered it to the blue haired girl in front of her, and Wendy took it, and inserted it into the lock. The door unlocked, and she pushed the door open.

Gray walked into Juvia's apartment. It smelt of vanilla, and some kind of fruity breakfast cereal. He remembered she once said her favorite tea kind of tasted like one, so he thought that must have been the scent of it too. The apartment was carpeted and well kept. She had a white two seater couch in the living room, with a coffee table in front of it. He walked over to the couch, and softly laid her down upon it.

Wendy got closer to Juvia and uncovered her injured ankle, as Gray began to explain himself.

"She slipped on my ice and she wouldn't admit she was hurt because she didn't want to guilt me. But it looks really bad so I think it's probably broken." He spoke, paying little attention to the little lady, who turned the foot one way and another, watching Juvia's reactions.

"She protested everything, but I carried her all the way back so she wouldn't put weight on it." Gray sounded like he might be bragging now.

"Well that probably helped but you should listen to Juvia." Wendy interrupted. Gray gave her a puzzled look.

"It's just a slight sprain. Using magic to heal it would be a waste." Wendy explained, and stood up straight, "Juvia will be good as new in a couple days."

Juvia turned her head to Gray and sent him a smirk. She didn't even need to say 'I told you so.' It was printed all over her face.

Gray's cheeks turned pink as he realized how arrogant he had been over the entire ordeal.

"Gray, you should really listen to your teammate. If Juvia was protesting you carrying her around, you probably made her feel like she was taking advantage of your kindness." Wendy waved a finger at him, taking all the opportunity to taunt her older teammate while she had the chance. Juvia blushed as Wendy had basically just read her mind.

"Now…" The young Marvell said with a smile, "I am going to bed. You two can talk this out like adults." She stretched her arms with a yawn, and then let herself out, waving goodnight to the other two mages as she did.

Juvia listened to the door shut, before, she sat up on the couch, and smiled at Gray, before patting the open seat beside her.

Gray sighed, and took the offer, sitting softly down beside her. "I'm sorry I didn't listen." He apologized, "I guess I just felt guilty. I thought if I carried you, and you didn't feel the pain, the guilt would go away."

Juvia let out her own soft sigh, and shook her head. She leaned against the ice mage. "Gray should know that Juvia would forgive Gray for anything he ever did." She told him, and ran her fingers down his arm, before placing her hand over top of his. "Juvia will get hurt in battle sometimes, but Juvia will always stand back up. So Gray has to stand up with her. Gray can't let Juvia tie him down, or Juvia would become a burden for Gray. Which is the last thing she wants."

Gray let out of soft laugh, "Yeah. I guess you're right."

Juvia smiled and nodded, rubbing her head against his shoulder. Her fingers dipped between his, though his palm stay resting down on his knee.

"Juvia. What you said to the little brat today… about people loving each other…" Gray started. Juvia's fingers flinched, and then she grasped his hand tighter.

"Juvia knows Gray does not love her the same way she loves him." She whispered.

Gray turned to face her, but she was staring down at her feet.

"But, even if it's just as a friend, or a teammate, or…whatever." Juvia continued, "Gray does love Juvia in some way, no matter how tiny, right?"

She wanted to look up at him, but she couldn't bear to know what his visage would give away. If she had, she would have seen a pair of red cheeks, and a bashful Gray, searching for words.

After a moment of painful silence, Gray turned his hand over, and interlaced his fingers with Juvia's. She smiled and sighed in relief.

"Yeah. In some way." He told her, and removed his hand from hers, just to lock his pinkie with hers. "Pinkie promise."

The two of them laughed softly, as her apartment gained a warm atmosphere like she had never felt before.

**End**


End file.
